Refrigerator



(No Model.)

0. W. TROTTER.

REFRIGERATOR.

'No. 395,254. Patented Dec. 25, 1888.

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Nir'n, Marne ATET CHARLES \V. TlRO'lTER, OF ROCHEWFER, NEV YORK.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,254, dated December 25, 1888. Application filed May 26, 1888. Serial No. 275,243. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES V. TROTTER, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

My present invention has for its objects to provide an improved refrigerator in which, by reason of the large and conveniently-arranged fines or passages, the circulation of air will be more rapid, thus cooling and keeping cold articles placed within the provisionchamber and preventing condensation of moisture 011 the walls or the articles thenr selves; and it has further for its object to provide an improved ice-chamber easily accessible for the insertion of the ice and cleansing, when desirable, and one in which the entrance of dirt, &c., is prevented during the operation; and to these ends it consists in the improved construction hereinafter described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

in the drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a refrigerator constructed in accordance with my invention, the outer doors of the upper portion being open; Fig. 72, a vertical sectional view of the same; Fig. 3, a similar view on the line :1: 5c of Fig. 2; Fig. t, a similar view of the upper portion with the partition or door forming one side, the ice-chamber open for permitting access thereto; Fig. 5, a view of a detail.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures denote similar parts.

The letter A in the drawings represents the outer casing of the refrigerator, constructed with double walls, as ordinarily, and a filling between them of non-heat conducting male rial such as rosin and asbestus or any other material or compound that will answer the purpose. The inner portion of the refrigerator is divided by a partition, l-l, preferably a non-eonductor of heat, into i wochalnliers, the upper one, t, for the reception of ice or other cooling medium, and the lower one, D, constituting the provision -ehamber, into which the articles to be cooled are placed, suitable shelves, D preferably consisting of gratings or foraminous materialbeing provided for supporting them. This partition is secured at opposite ends to the walls of the main casing, but at front and rear are left fines or passages E E, respectively, extending nearly the length of the casing and connecting the provision and ice chambers.

The back of the ice-chamber is formed by a wire grating or netting, F, secured to the rear of the partition and the top of the casing, re spectively, being strengthened at suitable intervals by rods or braces f f, adapted to pre vent the ice moving too far back or small pieces dropping down flue E, and the bottom is provided at both front and rear with a small lip or turned-up flange, c, preventing water from the melted ice or condensed water on door H dropping onto the provision-chamber below. r

G G represent the preferably horizontallyswinging doors for affording access to the icechamber and constituting one side of a portion of passage E, the other being formed by a door or partition, H, hinged at its lower edge to the walls of the casing on pivots 71, (or a through-loch) and adapted, when in normal position, to rest against cleats or stops H, and to be securetl by a catch or bolt, I, (shown in Fig. 1,) and to be swung down on its pivots and rest upon sill J, as shown in Fig. 4, when desired to have access to the chamber C. This door, it will be noted, does not extend to the top of the chamber when in upright position; but a space, H is left between them, forming a portion of the ascending flue to the ice, and when down in the position shown in Fig. 4, as it will be when ice is being inserted, closes passage E and effectually prevents the entrance of any foreign substance into chamber l), stopping the circulation upward through E and preventing any unpleasant odors or bad air being'drawn in, and also constituting a broad support for the ice to rest upon. When turned on its pivot, this door is supported a sufl'icient distance above flange c to prevent crushing it.

In the lowest portion of the ice-chamber is a short drain-pipe, 7;, and to the lower end of this is connected a flexible pipe, K, passing downward through chamber D and through an opening in the bottom thereof, en'iptying into a drip-pan. beneath, and as it is necessary to form a trap in this pipe to prevent entrance of air into the apparatus, as the simplest way of accomplishing this, and at the same time providing a trap readily emptied and cleansed when desired, I secure a projection, L, to the inside ofchamber D and give the pipe a turn about it, extending it down through the hot tom, as shown. To prevent the loop thus formed from slipping off the projection, I preferably secure a disk, M, on the end, as in l ig.

5, the tube lying between itand. the wall and the edges of the .disk operating as confining- I 5 flanges. Of course any other form of securing-projection could be employed, if desired, 1

for the purpose.

WV hen desired to clean out the pipe and trap, the loop is removed from the projection and water passed through it, as will bereadily understood.

The end of the pipe, it will be noted, tits tightly in the perforation in the bottom of the main casing, preventing access of air to chamber D, and the bottom of the latter is preferably covered with metal, so that the provisionchamber can be readily cleansed when desired and the water drained off, the end of the pipe K operating as a stopper, which can be 0 readily removed. This facilitates the cleansing operation and obviates the necessity of employing more th any one drain in g-outlet. Access is .had to chamber D through doors P P, as usual. 4

3 5 The operation of the device will now be readily understood.

The passage E forms the warm-air flue, up which the air from the contents of chamber D rises, and, passing over the ice and being 0 cooled thereby, passes down E to the chamber D again, a down-ward extension, 6, being provided at the rear to prevent upward passage of air through E, the arrows representi n the direction of the currents.

hen desired to replenish the ice or to have access to O for any other purpose, it is only necessary to open doors G G, un'fasten the bolt or securing device I, and swing down the door or partition H, stopping the circulation and preventing the access of any foreign particlesto the provision-chamber, the door at the same time forming a support for the ice being inserted In the present construction I have provided a smaller chamber, N, next the ice-chamber for the reception of articles and connected therewith at the top and bottom, as shown; but this I do not regard as essential, though desirable.

Of course the same arrangements herein shown and described can be equally well applied to refrigerator-cars and houses, and I do not, therefore, desire to be confined to the devices shown.

It will further be noted that the arrangements of the passages are such that nearly the whole surface of the ice or cooling medium is availed of, and the fines are of large size, with out any small tubes or lines through which the air must circulate, thus increasing the rapidity of the circulation, and consequently the rapidity with which the articles placed in the apparatus are cooled. The lines are also so situated as to be readily cleansed at all times; and I have found in practice that there is practically no condensation in a refriger-' ator constructed as above, probably due to the freedom of the circulation, articles even being dried that were placed in chamber D in a wet state.

The readiness with which the trap can be cleansed and the employment of the end of the trap-pipe asa stopper for the dischargeapcrture at the bottom is also desirable, as it simplifies and cheapens the apparatus materially.

Various modifications from the form shown can readily be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not desire to be con lined to precisely the form shown.

I claim as my invention 1.. In a refrigerator, the combination, with a provision-chamber, a chamber for containing the cooling medium, and air-circulating passages between said chambers, of a-door affording access to the chamber containing the cooling medium, and a door or partition forming when in normal position one of the walls of said chamber and when open projecting across and closing one of the circulating-passages, substantially as described.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination, with a provision-chamber, a chamber for containing the cooling medium, and air-circulating passages between said chambers, of a door affording access to the chamber containing the cooling medium, and a door or partition hinged on horizontal pivots, forming when in normal position one of the walls of the chamber containing the cooling medium and when turned down constituting a projecting support for the ice and closing one of the air-circulating fines, substantially as described.

' \V. TROTTER.

\V i tn esses FRED l1. CHURCH, E. A. GAY.

IOO 

